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04-14-2011, 10:46 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: near Austin, TX, USA
Posts: 101
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Ginger ale: do I need to peel the ginger?
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Because it sure is a PITA. I want to start a new batch tonight. I love the stuff. I go crazy with the ginger; using abut 3 times what Alton Brown recommends.
I'm wondering if I can just dump ginger into a food processor and save a lot of time.
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04-14-2011, 10:51 PM
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#2
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Happiest when brewing
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Natick, MA
Posts: 6,596
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Pretty sure you don't want the rind/peel/outside layer of the root in what you're making... Every application of fresh ginger, that I've ever seen has called for it to be peeled first...
Found the recipe on the Food Network web site...
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Hopping Tango Brewery
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04-14-2011, 11:01 PM
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#3
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Drink your beer!
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Upper Michigan
Posts: 41,532
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Yes, you'll want to peel the ginger. If you use a big piece, it's easy to peel. Worse than peeling it is grating it!
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Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006
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04-15-2011, 04:00 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Posts: 1,012
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I don't think I had any problem leaving the peel on. I did give it a wash and sliced off some of the more dried out areas, but just tossed it all into a juicer, and heated/strained the ginger solids before adding the juice in towards the end. Didn't have any problem, but I haven't yet done a comparison between skin on or off.
For cooking, I and my family rarely peel ginger for cooking purposes, and we use lots of ginger in our food. (As in almost every day.)
Younger gingers have thinner skin by the way.
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04-15-2011, 04:05 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Denver
Posts: 827
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A spoon works well for peeling ginger, better than a knife, especially if it's fresh. Grapefruit spoons have a bit of an extra edge as well.
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Some stuff I've made: Odell's 90 Shilling Clone, Abbey Weiss Pottsville Common, Simple Mead, Dry Dock Apricot Blonde Clone, Rye IPA, Maibock, Scrapper's Quaffable Irish Red, Short Sleep Blueberry Ale, Lazy Magnolia Pecan Nut Brown Ale Clone, Graff, Apfelwein, Cascades Orange Pale, Orfy's Mild Ale, Vagabond Gingered Ale
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04-15-2011, 07:55 AM
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#6
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Nuisance
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: utrecht, netherlands
Posts: 944
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if you have a juicer you can juice whole unpeeled ginger, i do this regularly for ginger beer. you will get really small particles of ginger coming through, these can be strained with a coffee filter if absolutely necessary but i never do this. you won't get any skin pieces coming through the juicer.
if you are blending and then straining off the ginger then i think you should use it whole, as i personally don't think that the skin influences the taste at all. it is just unpleasant to get chunks of it in your mouth. differing opinions on that issue are welcome of course!
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04-15-2011, 01:18 PM
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#7
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: New York
Posts: 39
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I just made a batch the other day with it sliced, leaving the skin on. I never though of trimming it off. I also thew it in my hop bag, to not worry about any floaters.
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04-17-2011, 02:26 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: near Austin, TX, USA
Posts: 101
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I think I'll peel it, just to be safe.
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04-17-2011, 11:58 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rochester, New York
Posts: 507
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesnsw
A spoon works well for peeling ginger, better than a knife, especially if it's fresh. Grapefruit spoons have a bit of an extra edge as well.
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+1... its actually not "that" bad to peel.... just time consuming. A spoon really works.
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-Eric
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04-17-2011, 03:10 PM
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#10
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Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Plano, Texas
Posts: 3
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I guess it also depends on what kind of juicer you are using. I'm sure most any mid to high end Juicer can handle it. I use a simple 60 dollar Juicer and I was wondering the same thing. When I tried not peeling it, I got a few chunks of the skin in my juice, so I went back to peeling. If your Juicer can handle it and you don't see any dark chunks in the juice, you should be fine. Just make sure you rinse the ginger thoroughly first.
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